Taking Chances
by starrnobella
Summary: Taking a chance with a man she met on a plane while traveling for work, Hermione Granger finds herself looking forward to spending the holidays in Maine rather than dreading it because of work. COMPLETE


A/N: I am back with my second piece from the collection. This story was prompted by our wonderful friend JenniseiBlack! She's always been a big fan of my crossovers, particularly those with these two fandoms involved.

The prompt I was given was: First Christmas in a new town, hopefully, a new romance.

I took this prompt and let it run in a way that started out a bit more unique than my normal stories but ended in a similar way to how I have written a few other stories. I just hope it is enjoyable for one and all.

I hope you enjoy the story! Let me know what you think!

Love always,  
~starr

* * *

Hermione glanced down at the folder in her hands as she waited for the plane to take off. Storybrooke, Maine. It had to be a made up place after all, and the Minister just so happened to be off his rocker asking her to take up a case there. Not to mention the fact that he had asked her to take on this case, just days before Christmas. What if she had already made arrangements to spend the holidays somewhere else other than London and now she was forced to be in a strange city all alone?

There was a piece of her that was certain that as soon as she landed in America, she'd receive an owl telling her it had all been a big mistake and she could return home on the next flight. Or at least that's what she was going to keep telling herself anyways.

She didn't mind flying on muggle planes, but at the same time, she wasn't keen on flying in general. However, the moment it appeared that the seat beside her was empty, so maybe she'd be able to get a few winks of sleep before she had to start off to work. Something she knew would be difficult on a plane so close to Christmas. It appeared that everyone in London was planning to travel somewhere today based on the crowd in the airport.

Just as she was about to place her carry-on bag in the seat beside her to get ready for takeoff, a gentleman with a hook for a hand appeared beside her.

"Sorry, love, but I believe that seat is meant for me," he said, nodding at her bag in the empty seat.

Hermione just stared at him for a moment, caught entirely off guard by the lack of a hand. It was something she had never seen before, and that was certainly saying something. She was, after all, Hermione Granger, war hero.

"Did you hear me?" he asked, a dashing smile appearing on his lips.

"Oh, right," she mumbled, grabbing the straps of her bag and pulling it off the seat until it dropped on the ground. She kicked it under her seat and stood up to step out of the row, allowing the hook-handed man to take his seat. "Sorry about that. I was distracted by your hook."

He smiled and nodded his head as he moved past her into the row. "Most people are until they get used it being there and then they don't seem to notice. I'm Killian Jones," he said, extending his hand. "And you are?"

Hermione looked at him for a moment and decided to take a chance, taking the hand offered to her and giving it a firm shake. "Hermione Granger. It's nice to meet you, Killian Jones."

"The pleasure is all mine, love," he replied, leaning back in his seat as the pilot came over the intercom to announce take off. Glancing over at her out of the corner of his eye, he smiled and crossed his arms over his chest.

Hermione leaned back in her seat and quirked her brow as "she snuck a peek at him out of the corner of her eye. There was something about him that intrigued her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly it was. Maybe by the time they arrived in Maine, she would have figured it out.

Soon they were in the air, and the seatbelt light had been switched off. Taking a deep breath, Hermione leaned her head back in her seat and stretched her arms out to the side. Without meaning to, she bumped her hand into Killian's shoulder. She cursed on her breath as she watched him push his headphones off his ears and turned to look at her.

"Sorry about that," she mumbled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't mean to hit you."

"That's alright," he replied, smirking at her sheepish nature. "I thought you were just trying to get my attention for some odd reason."

"Nope," she said with a laugh. "Just a case of you being within arms reach and me needing a stretch."

Killian nodded his head and smiled, leaning back into his seat momentarily before leaning back forward and turning this attention back to Hermione. "So, Ms. Granger, what is causing you to fly from London to Maine during this fine winter season?"

"I'm headed to Storybrooke, Maine on assignment for work," she said, smiling shyly. "What about you?"

"Headed to back to Storybrooke myself. I was in London visiting family," Killian replied, chuckling softly to himself. "It's a small world, isn't it?"

"It really is," Hermione said, nodding her head. "What can you tell me about Storybrooke? Is there anything I should know before I get there?"

"It might be easier if I just show you around when we land and treating you to dinner at the best establishment in town. Wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression of the town by exploring it on your own," Killian answered, smirking slightly as he watched the expression on her face change from confused to excited.

"Are you asking me out on a date, Killian Jones?" she asked, furrowing brow and pursing her lips. "We've only just met. I don't even know anything about you."

"Aye, I'm aware we don't know much about each other, but I thought that might give us something to talk about over dinner. Besides, wouldn't you like to at least know someone in town to celebrate the holidays with potentially? If you have a terrible time at dinner, I'll rescind my offer for the holidays, and I'll even introduce you to some people you might like."

Hermione thought about it for a second as she took the time to admire the man seated across from her. He was handsome, and it would be nice to know at least one person in town. From what she had skimmed in the file before she boarded the plane, she was going to be in Storybrooke for a while. A friend would definitely be nice. What could it hurt to say yes to a tour around town and dinner? Absolutely nothing.

"Okay," she said, nodding her head quickly. "I'll go out with you for a tour of the town and dinner when we land."

"You won't regret it," Killian replied with a wink.

Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat. She was starting to look forward to landing in Maine more and more than she had at the beginning of this trip.

. . . . . . . .

Hermione looked around the town, awestruck at just how beautiful it looked with a fresh coating of snow lying on the ground. She had never been anywhere that a fresh coat of snow looked as beautiful as it did here in Maine.

She couldn't help smiling when she would glance over at Killian as he led her through the town, telling her countless tales about the people who lived in there as they passed by different places. Every so often, she would catch him sliding a bit on the snow and trying to pass it off as he didn't almost just fall on his arse, which would cause both of them to burst out laughing.

Deep down, she knew that his tour was slowly coming to an end as she saw a sign for the diner he had told her about on the plane came into view up ahead. She had to admit that she didn't hate the town and part of her was thankful to Kingsley for shipping her here for a holiday, as much as she would have preferred spending it at home. There was something very appealing to the small town, she thought to herself as she looked at Killian once more.

"And here is where our little tour of the town comes to an end," he announced, coming to a stop in front of the entryway to Granny's diner. "Have I scared you away yet?"

"Quite the contrary," she replied with a laugh. "I might have to extend my stay a little longer than originally intended."

While the pair were talking, Hermione slipped her hand into the pocket of her coat and wrapped her slender fingers around her wand. With a subtle flick of her wrist, she cast a small spell on the eave of the entryway to the diner. When the mistletoe appeared behind him in the air, she smiled to herself proudly.

"What are you smiling at, love?" he asked, quirking his head to the side as he met her eyes. Slowly he turned to look behind and find what she was staring so intently at. "Well, that would be the reason for your smile, now wouldn't it?"

Hermione giggled and nodded her head. "Looks like we have two options. We could find a different way into the diner, or…" Her voice trailed off as her lips turned up into an innocent smile. Slowly she batted her eyes at him and took one long step toward the gate.

"It would appear that you already have an idea in mind," he replied, taking a step toward her and laughing as he watched her take another step closer to the arch.

Within a matter of steps, the two of them were standing under the archway decorated with mistletoe. They were looking at one another, each one contemplating what the next step was going to be.

They were here standing under the mistletoe, so they knew that they had to kiss, but what would that kiss mean? Hermione wasn't from Storybrooke, and she was only here on assignment. Killian was a native to the town and had only been in London visiting family. What would happen if there were sparks after they kissed? Would either of them be completely willing to uproot their entire life and move to a different city?

At this point, neither of them really cared about the answers to any of those questions. It was all the details that they could figure out later.

Slowly, Killian closed his eyes and leaned down to press his lips against Hermione's. She had pressed up on her tiptoes to meet him part way. As their lips met, Hermione brought her arms up to wrap around Killian's neck and smiled when she felt his arms take purchase against the small of her back.

They stayed like that for a few moments before slowly pulling away from one another. Killian rested his forehead against Hermione's and exhaled, slowly opening his eyes to find hers staring back at him.

"I guess it's safe for us to go inside now. We've broken the mistletoe spell," Hermione replied, worrying her lower lip.

"Aye," Killian said, leaning his head back slightly. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, and he brushed his thumb over her lip. He smiled as the corners of her lips tugged up into a smile. "Or we could stay here a little bit longer."

Hermione nodded her head slowly and leaned forward, pressing her lips to Killian's without another word. As their lips met, the snow began to fall around them. The town appeared as though it was engulfed in a snowglobe with giant flakes of snow cascading to the ground.


End file.
